Sir Paul Smith use to work 'crummy' jobs

Sir Paul Smith admits he worked ''crummy jobs'' before he launched his own line and he feels frustrated by young models and designers who demand so much without having learnt the ''groundwork''.

Sir Paul Smith had ''crummy jobs'' before he launched his own line.

The British designer use to work in a mens' clothing wholesalers when he was 17 before being hit by a car and it was his now-wife, Pauline Denyer, who encouraged him to open his own store while he was recovering from his injuries.

After working hard since the 1960s, Smith is frustrated about how young people in this day and age demand so much without the ''groundwork'' he went through to make a name for himself.

He said: ''[I was] doing anything that came along. I learnt the trade doing some crummy jobs. That's why I get a bit fed up with people who come to me now, and they're 24 or something like that, and they want to have a fashion show and be on the front cover of Vogue.

''But they haven't done the groundwork, and it just seems kind of sad.''

Despite his label now being in demand around the globe, Smith insists he hasn't let the money go to his head as he prefers to try and work his way up the talent scale rather than move down it.

He added to website Telegraph.co.uk: ''So many people in this industry let themselves become insulated from the world. They become so arrogant and so surrounded by subservience that they lose their perspective.

''As I've said before, I've always worked hard not to be number one but to be number two, or three or thereabouts - because if you're number one there is only one direction to go.''

The designer will showcase his spring/summer 2014 collection at the biannual men's fashion week in London in June.